Remember when the Ottoman Empire took over Syria and Lebanon for roughly 400 years and spent a good portion of that time being, how do I put this diplomatically... absolute a$$holes?
Because I would argue that somewhere along the way they also looked at our coffee, food, recipes, and traditional dishes and said, "Oh, this is nice. We'll be taking this."
And honestly, I'm still slightly offended.
But that is not this restaurant's fault, so I will leave my 400 year old historical trauma at the door and focus on the food.
As for the Kurds, I originally wanted to say they didn't contribute much, but then I spent approximately three hours on the internet researching this and discovered that, y'all have been around for a very long time.
So I have decided to stop talking before I accidentally start an international incident in the review community.
Syria itself goes back more than 2,500 years into antiquity, with the name Syria generally connected to Assyria through Greek and Roman usage. Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
Which means Syrians have had thousands of years to perfect the ancient Middle Eastern tradition of arguing with other Middle Eastern people about who invented the food.
And this is where I draw the line.
Do not come into my comments and tell me BOREK IS NOT SYRIAN, GOOD SIR.
I have Google.
I have WiFi.
I have absolutely no qualifications whatsoever.
But I have confidence. (And again, the internet)
And as for baba ghanoush, labneh, kibbeh in approximately 900 different forms, knafeh, falafel, hummus, baklava, etc... yes, I understand that these foods have traveled across Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Turkey, and the surrounding region for centuries.
At this point, trying to determine who invented what is basically the Middle Eastern equivalent of two grandmothers fighting over who made the better grape leaves. (Syrian, they are all Syrian i swear. Just softening the blow earlier)
Nobody knows anymore. ( i do remember, i have internet)
Everyone is yelling.
Someone is crying.
There is a tray of baklava on the table.
Turkey does have haydari, though, and nobody is really going to fight you over that one.
You can have it.
We have better things to argue about.
Now, the actual restaurant.
The food is pretty damn good.
I'd change a few things, and some of the portions are definitely on the smaller side, but overall I enjoyed it. The vibe is also really cool. It doesn't particularly remind me of many places I've been in Turkey, Lebanon, or Syria.
But this is Antioch.
So what exactly were we expecting?
This place is basically the culinary equivalent of putting five civilizations, three empires, four religions, and one extremely opinionated grandmother in a room and saying, "Okay, everyone make dinner."
The staff is kind, although they weren't always super attentive. But they also seemed to be constantly busy, so I get it. Maybe adding another person or two on the floor would help.
It was pretty clean overall, the atmosphere was great, and I'd definitely come back for specific dishes.
And honestly, I would absolutely bring a white girl from Tennessee who has never left the state here just to watch her take one bite and realize that the world is significantly larger than Nashville.
Then I would quietly whisper:
"Welcome to Syria, Antioch franchise." read more